The present invention relates to a wire neutralization system, and more specifically to a wire neutralization system for buried wires used to detonate explosive devices.
Military convoys occasionally travel through areas which may have explosive devices. These explosive devices may be triggered by a target presence sensor, a timer, or by a user controlled detonator. Examples of target presence sensors are trip wires, pressure plates, tilt sensors, and motion detectors, all of which infer the presence of a target from an input signal and automatically send a detonation signal, often through a control wire, to detonate the explosive device. Timers detonate an explosive device, usually by sending a detonation signal through a control wire, at a preselected time or within a preselected passage of time from a start time. User controlled detonators are operated by a human operator and may send the detonation signal via a control wire connected to the explosive device. The present invention is concerned with any type of explosive device that uses a buried wire of any kind to transmit a detonation signal or otherwise trigger the detonation of the explosive device. The buried wire may be buried in the terrain to mask the presence of the explosive device.
It would be useful to have a wire neutralization system that could neutralize buried wires. It would further be useful to be able to operate such a wire neutralization system while driving a vehicle designed to protect a driver from explosions. Such a vehicle could, for example, lead a military convoy to reduce the likelihood that the personnel and contents of the convoy will be harmed by an explosive device that uses a buried wire.